Iolite Miasma
by Hawkflight7
Summary: The iolite glimmered in the sun. She was his now, even if she didn't know it yet.


**Iolite Miasma**

**Summary: The iolite glimmered in the sun. She was his now, even if she didn't know it yet.**

**Another of my random M fics for this fandom. I have about two more planned out right now, one of them also for this couple, the other is a mystery. This is pre-Heavenly Host Elementary. Also, welcome to the past phone era. It's so exciting!**

Satoshi this. Satoshi that. Satoshi, Satoshi, Sa-fucking-toshi. It was always his best friend, Satoshi that she went on about. A word never left her mouth about him, not in a positive light anyway. In those instances it was,

_"Why do you have to be like that Kishinuma?"_

_"Don't sneak up on me!"_

_"It's a wonder you and Satoshi are friends. You're practically polar opposites."_

It was especially worse when she started mentioning him and Satoshi in the same sentance,

_"No, not like that. Like this," she rearranged the contents inside the desk with a sigh, "Satoshi would have known exactly what I meant."_

_"Hey, Kishinuma? Where's Satoshi?"_

Anytime he asked her that the answer was usually the same, "With Naomi." Only occasionally would it be, "With his sister, Yuka." This information always passed over head when it was Naomi. She would go and find the two anyways and end up talking, hanging out with Satoshi even though Yoshiki knew his friend was only romantically interested in one person, and that was Naomi. Either Ayumi really didn't notice that or she was choosing to ignore it until it became public knowledge. Until the two were publicly dating instead of kissing under staircases and sitting in the back of darkened theaters so no one noticed them.

He wished they would just come out with it, even if Naomi's parents didn't like the idea of her dating. Atleast Ayumi would realize she had lost the game for Satoshi's heart. That she had lost months ago.

Yoshiki had tried asking Satoshi to convince Naomi that publicly dating at school could be hidden from her parents. Apparently she hadn't agreed with that and had told Yoshiki himself.

Naomi had actually tracked him down and yelled at him to stay out of her and Satoshi's business. It led to a screaming match and - of course - Ayumi was the one to walk in on the two of them.

_"What's going on here?" Ayumi demanded after having thrown the door to the storage room open, staring wide-eyed at Naomi and Yoshiki going at eachother, yelling so loud that it was obvious why they had chosen the reinforced storage room for their screaming match._

_"Ayumi!" Naomi turned to face the class rep and Yoshiki scowled at the fact that she had just called her by her first name like he wished he could do. Somehow they were on a first name basis even though they were fighting for the same guy. Why were girl politics so complicated? "Thank God, maybe you can talk some sense into this delinquent and get him to leave me alone-"_

_"Leave you alone!" Yoshiki yelled taking a step forward, watching as Naomi turned back to face him quickly only to shrink away at his snarling, "I was just asking the same of you and you come here to scream at me?"_

_"Kishinuma!"_

_He advanced another step, ignoring Ayumi's yell. "Who do you think you are that you can just come here and throw me into a room and start yelling at me?" Naomi was now backed against a wall of tools. "It's your own fault! If you-"_

_"Kishinuma!" Her yell was closer this time and he felt a pair of hands on his chest suddenly, pushing him back away from Naomi. "Stop it! Naomi, get out. I'll deal with this."_

_"Thanks Ayumi," his blood boiled at those two simple words, "I'll see you tomorrow," with a glance at Yoshiki she added, "And you better stay away from me and my personal life."_

_That did it. "Satoshi is my best friend. Your personal life isn't personal to me! Fucking bimbo!" he stepped quickly around Ayumi, hand reaching out for Naomi who squealed and backpedaled to the door._

_His hand clentched around empty air. "I'll tell Satoshi-"_

_"Go ahead! See if I care!" Yoshiki snapped, eyes narrowed as Naomi went running from the room into the hallway, probably heading straight for Satoshi. He didn't care. Not really, he told himself. As long as she didn't spoil one of his few friendships. With a scowl he kicked an empty bucket across the room._

_"Kishinuma," he turned to see Ayumi standing not too far away with her hands crossed over her chest, "Are you trying to get yourself expelled? If you had hit her I would have to report you as part of my responsibility as class-rep. I don't know what's going on between the two of you, but this can't happen again. You can't go around yelling and grabbing at people. What if a teacher had come in instead of me?"_

_"Why would that matter?" he snapped, turning to glare at the over turned bucket as if it was the inanimate object's fault that Ayumi was talking to him like this._

_"It does matter!" he frowned, knowing she was right. It wouldn't do to get himself expelled. Mostly because he only ever saw her at the school. If he got kicked out he wouldn't be able to see her at all, the one bright star in this blasted place. "Why were you two arguing anyway?" He scuffed the toe of his shoe against the ground. She didn't need to know that. "It obviously has something to do with Satoshi. What's going on?"_

_His teeth clentched. Satoshi again. The last person he wanted to talk about around her. "It's nothing."_

_"That wasn't nothing. Tell me." She stepped into his vision and he turned his head away. "Kishinuma! Tell me what's going on!" Ayumi was in his vision again and he frowned, "I need to know!" No, you don't. He averted his eyes. "Look at me and tell me what's happening with Satoshi! You're his best friend, if there's something you know that can help me put a stop to these fights-"_

_That was a damn lie. She only wanted to know because Satoshi's name had been dropped. Otherwise he would have been able to leave by now. "Fine!" his gaze snapped back to her, walking forward quickly as he snarled, "Naomi came and found me because I suggested that her and Satoshi bring their relationship to the surface! Them hiding it isn't doing anyone any good, and I wouldn't have hurt her. She is Satoshi's girlfriend and I wouldn't do that to him." He stopped only when her back was pressed against a wall, "I see the way you look at him, but he's with Naomi. No matter what excuses you come up with in your head there's no reason for you to go running after him! He doesn't think of you that way, he never did. If there had even been an instance I would have been told about it. Them hiding their relationship is just going to hurt you in the long run. It already is. That's the truth and you need to face it."_

_He was catching his breath when there was a sudden sting on his cheek. Yoshiki stared at the flat palm of her hand that had struck him, gaze moving to her eyes that glimmered in the light, tears streaking down her face. When had she started crying? "Shut up!" Her hands were against his chest, shoving him backward, "You don't know that!" In the next second she was out of the door, the rapid beat of her footsteps signalling she was running. Then a loud bang followed. The door, she wasn't even in the school anymore._

_His jaw clentched as he leaned against the wall she had previously occupied. "Ayumi..." he whispered against the stone, running a hand through his hair._

Much like he was now while staring down at his phone, the screen flashing blue at him. Satoshi's name and number in white emblazoned in the middle, a little message box under it. He tapped at the button after staring at it for a few minutes, not sure what to expect.

_I heard about what happened between you and Naomi._

_I know it's none of my business but, is Ayumi okay?_

_Naomi told me she's the one that broke up your fight._

_Oh, and Naomi asked me to tell you that she's sorry for involving her._

_Normally I would tell her to tell you yourself, it's better that way._

_It's just that you scared her a bit back there._

_So work on being less scary in the future._

_- Satoshi Mochida_

He let out a sigh of relief, before tapping back on the number pad,

_I'm not that scary._

_She just got me worked up._

_You know how she gets._

_As for Ayumi... I don't know._

_Ugh, I told her finally, well not _that_, but, about you and Naomi._

_She didn't react very well to the news._

_She kind of ran away... after slapping me and said I was lying._

_- Yoshiki Kishinuma_

He fell back onto his bed, staring at the small screen in his hand, wondering where she had even run off to. Home? He could only hope she had gone there instead of taking a ride on a train to some other part of town. Somehow he doubted she had gone anywhere that would be good for a crying girl to be. His phone blinked at him and he tapped it to open the message.

_I'm sorry._

_Naomi says she saw her come out of the school crying while 'waiting for the bus'._

_And now she just hit me._

_Notice: We need a new secret code for, 'Naomi is taking her sweet time unlocking her bike.'_

_- Satoshi Mochida_

He couldn't help but laugh a bit at that. Though if Ayumi had left the school that way...

_Any idea where she went?_

_If she's with her parents or not?_

_The new code will be, 'she just hit me.'_

_- Yoshiki Kishinuma_

_Are you kidding?_

_She hits me half the time, it's a wonder I'm not black and blue right now._

_That is a wonder :) N_

_'She just hit me.'_

_The teacher was out sick today, Ayumi's probably grading all the papers, except hers._

_So school, now._

_I'm not sure where she went before that._

_Let me call her parents, I'm on better terms with them than you._

_- Satoshi Mochida_

Yoshiki grabbed another pillow to put behind him as he waited for Satoshi's report. He wished he could call himself but if Ayumi had told her parents anything about what had happened today they would just like him less than they already did. Seeing as to them he was known as, 'that troublesome delinquent that seriously thought about punching the gym teacher.'

There was a soft glow from the screen.

_According to her parents she didn't show up at home to pick anything up._

_Apparently the teacher called to let her know about being sick and she took all the materials with her._

_They did get a call from her though, she was near Ichio Station at the time._

_They wouldn't tell me what happened exactly but Ayumi was crying._

_Though that was about two hours after she left the school, so I doubt you were the cause._

_I can go with you to check on her if you want._

_- Satoshi Mochida_

_No, I'll do it by myself._

_I need to apologize to her for what happened today anyways._

_Hopefully she isn't mad at me or in a punching mood herself._

_- Yoshiki Kishinuma_

As he went to put his phone away it buzzed again and he quickly tapped the middle button to have the message open as he got up off his mattress.

_I saw that Yoshiki, don't make fun of me._

_I just thought you should know that Ayumi called me later today._

_A few minutes before her parents actually._

_She was crying about the people at the station, I think they robbed her._

_I don't know exactly who but she mentioned dark green attire._

_And it was near that graffiti of the dragon, at the far southside of the station._

_Think you could 'rob it back?' :)_

_- Naomi Nakashima_

He stared at the message for a moment before he felt his blood roaring in his ears. Those idiots had stolen from _his_ Ayumi? Well, the people at school didn't call him a delinquent for nothing, and he certainly had his own turf as well, larger than that group even. He would have to do as Naomi suggested and 'rob them back,' he couldn't let them get away with it. They wouldn't be at the station at this hour though. Ayumi would be at the school still, he had to deal with her first.

Yoshiki flipped his phone shut, sliding it under the pillows before he took a moment to look around him. Where was it? He pulled open a few drawers from the dresser before looking into the closet, finding the bag on the top shelf he pulled it down, sticking it into his pack. After checking that everything was inside he left his apartment, walking past his own work of graffiti on his way to the school. It consisted of blue waves rising on the left, yellow flames on the right, with a Steller's Sea Eagle depcited in the middle, only the black feathers on the wings, head, and upper body depicted.

The door opened when he turned the handle, which meant Ayumi was still inside even though it was eight now. He reached into the bag, fitting a mechanical metal piece over his mouth and tieing the back part before stepping further into the school. Yoshiki dug out the mini flashlight as he walked, keeping it in hand but off for now as he approached the classroom.

He stopped outside of the room, pressed to the wall beside the door as he listened. There was a scribbling on paper, the scratching sounding like it came from an almost-dead pen. So she was still grading then. Good.

Reaching out he slid the door open slowly so it wouldn't make any sudden noise, just enough for his fingers to find the light panel on the other side and flicked the switch. "Kyaaa!" Her reaction was instant and he kicked the door open the rest of the way, walking quickly to the teacher's desk where he knew she would be to grade the assignments of today. He flicked the light on, shining it right into her eyes to blind her and allow him to see better.

Ayumi closed her eyes, hands thrown up and he chuckled from the way it only served to obstruct her vision even more. Her body started shivering when he made the sound and he grinned beneath the voice changer. It made his laugh sound metalic somehow, inhuman. When he spoke it was going to do the same with his voice as well as distort it futher. Mostly, it would serve to freak her out further.

"Ayumi Shinozaki," he took his time saying her name, letting it linger on his lips, "You've been a very inconsiderate naive girl. Wouldn't you say so?"

"Hhn," her breath was coming fast and she was shaking harder now, "N-no. Please, leave me alone, whoever you are."

He let out a laugh watching as she shrinked back, bumping into the desk. His eyes narrowed, a smile tugging at his lips as an idea went through his mind. "You are," he moved the light so it stayed shining in her eyes as he spoke, "A very inconsiderate heartless little gi-"

"No!" He scowled when she took a step forward, he couldn't allow her to see him right now. Yoshiki quickly stepped forward to push her back against the desk, hand lowering to grab her waist and spin her around so the desk hit her stomach and she released a small, "Oompf," sound.

He moved his hand up to her back to keep her pinned there, moving the light over her struggling body. Her head twisted from side to side, hands pushing against the desk in her attempts to get up, whole body shivering in fear. "Do you see what you're doing, Ayumi?" he asked, setting the light down on it's side to highlight the scene as he pulled her hair out of the pigtails so her twisting would make it fall into her face, making it even harder for her to see. Though she seemed to not care about seeing at the moment, but rather getting up and out of the classroom. He pushed his hand firmly against her back to stop the silly notion, "Stop struggling, you selfish brat."

The words just seemed to frighten her further as she moved her hands up to the edge of the desk, fingers curling to try and drag herself across the surface and consequently away from him. Her shirt seemed to tighten over her back as she cried out for help. No one was going to answer of course. It was way past school hours. She could yell as much as she wanted and he wasn't going to stop her. He was going to make sure the way she treated him, comparing him to Satoshi all the time was wrong though. That she had been a fool to run out of the school to a station frequented by gangs.

What if they had done more then robbed her? What if they decided to the next time she showed up, crying and not paying attention to her surroundings? Being typical bad mouthed Ayumi Shinozak-

His gaze landed below her waist, the skirt had bundled up in her struggles to get off the desk, the fabric practically flipped over completely onto her back, revealing tan-colored panties. It wasn't quite what he had expected though, being a thong. The light shined over the curves of her ass and he reached out to feel the flesh, a squeal immediately coming from beneath him, "No! Don't! I'll call the polic-AHH!"

The words dissolved into a yell when he raised his hand to strike across the skin, "Shut up! You're not calling anyone. You don't even have your phone, so don't go threatening to call the police on _me_ Ayumi!" His hand on her back moved up to grab at her hair, pulling her head back in the process so that she was looking directly at the far side of the classroom. "Besides," he hissed, leaning down so his altered voice was right next to her ear, "You couldn't be bothered to call the police before, like any sane person would do. Why should I believe you would call them now?"

He could hear her breathing pick up, but couldn't see the way her chest trembled along with the rest of her body. "Leave me alone! Please! I-i have friends that could beat you-"

His interested piqued slightly. Could she actually be referring to him? "Really?" he growled, keeping with his gang persona. "Let's see," he retrieved her phone from inside the desk where she always stuck it when doing her class-rep duties. A stupid place in his opinion. With his thumb he flipped it open, scrolling through the list of phones she had called today around the time she had been robbed at the station. "Naomi. Mom." He slammed the phone down to feel her tremble at the display of force. "I'm not intimidated, Ayumi."

She said something, a murmur he didn't quite catch and he leaned down further, making sure to curl his fingers into her hair incase she tried to headbut him. "Sa-to-shi." His blood spiked at the barely audible whisper and he gave a tug at her hair. "Satoshi!"

For a moment he was silent, breathing heavily as he fought down the urge to wrap his hands around said person's neck. "That twig? Short kid, brown hair, has a little sister?" He felt her stiffen ontop of the desk. "Not a single muscle in his body. What did he do on Sunday again?" he was growling now, recalling that the gang Naomi had described had been in the arcade when they were there just last weekend. "Fall over when the lights flickered? Or was that the one who screamed when one of your friends snuck up on him?" She was trembling again and he scowled, pulling away as he twisted his fingers further into her hair.

She cried out, hands moving up toward her hair and he quickly slapped them away and back onto the desk. "You're out of time," he hissed, leaning away to let his eyes fall on her ass, noting the slight pink tinge where he had striked her before. Yoshiki lowered his hand to brush his fingers over the spot, watching as her whole body seemed to freeze at the touch. He brought his whole hand down on the smooth skin, fingers stroking over the pale flesh, moving up to slip a finger under the silk of her thong to pull up slightly before releasing and watching her give a twitch as the _snap_ of silk on skin rang through the room.

His eyes roamed over the desk in the following silence before settling on a ruler at the edge and took it in hand, moving a finger over the edge to make sure it wasn't sharp. With that checked he turned it in his hand to settle it against the other cheek. He raised the ruler to lay it softly back on the skin, listening to her uneven breaths, the way words seemed to form in the air.

_Sa-to-shi._

He grit his teeth. Even now that's who she thought of first. She could be in real trouble and call Satoshi, say his name in that breathless way. Someone that wouldn't be able to do anything when he did show up, if he even managed to get to her location in time.

_I have friends that could beat you-_

Thing was she did - or he thought she did. Apparently not. Apparently he wasn't among her friends in her mind. Probably just an acquaintance. No, not even that. He was just a delinquent that she found the need to keep out of trouble. A good deed. Nothing else.

His breath was heavy when the words vanished from the air like smoke. That-

"Bitch!" There was a shocked painful scream when the wood landed on her right cheek. "You little greedy bitch!" She yelped this time, letting out a cry afterwards that he covered with his own yell, "Think you're too good for me, do you?" The slap on bare flesh echoed throughout the room. "That I'm a low-life that's not worth it!" With each yell he swung the ruler back down, changing where it landed on her porcelain skin each time, "You think you're better than me! That you're fucking perfect compared to the fuck up! Is that what you think? Answer me!"

"No!" her scream pierced the air at the same time she was struck. "Please! Stop! It hurts!"

Thr ruler laid flat against her skin, unmoving. "It hurts?" he snarled, fingers tightening in her hair which resulted in another cry from her. "Is that all you have to say? Is that all you think about? Yourself?" his voice dipped lower, "And this Satoshi, who's probably incapable of hitting a fly? Pathetic," he hissed letting go of her hair so her head fell forward towards the desk.

Yoshiki took in a slow breath as he stared down at her, hand clentching at the back of her shirt now. "Let me guess, since this Satoshi isn't with you currently. Since he left you here at an empty school during night without _any_ security which was clearly a bad idea. You stupid cunt!" she screamed when his hand raised to strike her again, rage coursing through his veins. If he hadn't texted Satoshi his friend wouldn't have even thought to go looking for Ayumi what with Naomi over. How she could think it was safe in the school at night was beyond him, hopefully she learned her lesson after this.

"He probably doesn't even look at you, or when he does it's not the way you want. Should I go on?" he raised the ruler watching as her head shook from side to side as her sobs filled the classroom turning into a scream when he lowered his arm quickly, "He has a girlfriend and you're jealous of her, but make nice just so you can be near him. Pitiful. But that's all you'll do, just sit around waiting for him to notice you when he couldn't give a care in the world. Even if you are friends you'll never be more, but you want more. Greedy bitch."

He ran the ruler slowly over her skin as he continued, "It's likely there's at least one person in this school of yours that does care about you who you won't give the time of day for some despicable reason." he raised the ruler, watching how her body tensed as his gaze moved down.

Her skin was flushed, bright red and he set the ruler down on the desk to press his hand to the skin that seemed to glow from the only light source in the room. Her body was shivering again but his gaze stayed on her ass that quivered whenever he moved a finger, running it down to her thigh. He curled his hand around her upper leg as he moved his other hand from her back. With a few adjustments he pulled the metal piece from his mouth, setting it aside before he kneeled down.

Yoshiki ran his hand over the curves, sliding up her hip, moving his fingers beneath the upturned skirt until he found a good grip on her body. Leaning forward he ran his tongue over the most recent mark on her skin-

"No! Don't!" His eyes narrowed as he felt her begin to struggle once again, grip tightening on her thigh and waist. The screams were ruining it for him. Her perfect abused skin, the taste of perspiration lingering on his tongue, that shiver when he made contact... "Please! Let me go!" He growled in the negative, parting his lips he located the first mark to grab the skin between his teeth and give a quick pull. "Pl-ahh!" He released the flesh waiting for her scream to die down. When she continued with her pleads though he nipped at her flesh again, growling to try and get her to shut up. He didn't want to stop to put the voice changer back on yet and continued with his actions, gradually softening the bites further until she stopped screaming each time. Until she stopped pleading entirely, apparently having gotten the message finally.

With her quiet now he licked around the worst of the bite marks, massaging the skin with his tongue. She shivered beneath him and he leaned up, hand moving her skirt up further so he could place a kiss on her lower back. Yoshiki moved back down, laying kisses along the flushed skin to move his tongue over the same spot a second later.

When he pulled away the red tinged skin had a glossed look everywhere his mouth had touched. Yoshiki let go of her thigh, moving his fingertips slowly up the back. He stood when they came in contact with the skirt, gripping the fabric between his thumb and forefinger he pulled it back down over her quivering body.

Once the metal was fit over his mouth again he opened the bag he had set earlier on the desk, pulling out two thick long black cloths he leaned over Ayumi; first grabbing her hands and putting them behind her back before tying them together, then he took the other cloth in hand to cover her eyes and tie behind her head. He checked that the knots were tight before rolling her over onto her back, ignoring the gasp of pain she made when the edge of the desk hit her ass. "Stay still," he said, taking out a plastic bag to rip it open, pulling on the latex gloves a moment later.

He grabbed the other materials he would need from the bag and set them on the table beside Ayumi, uncaping a bottle to dip a cotton ball in the liquid within before pulling it back out to apply the disinfectant around her belly button. Her body stilled instantly at the contact, "Wh-what are you doing?" He didn't answer, pressing the drenched cotton into her navel. "What is that?" He removed the cotton, putting it into an empty plastic bag, not about to leave any evidence in the trashcan just a foot away.

He pressed a finger to her navel, marking the skin with two dots on either side of the digit before throwing the marker back into the bag. Yoshiki grabbed the clamp next, taking it out of it's own bag to clamp onto her skin using his left hand, checking that the halves had the marked dots in the middle. He kept the clamp in place as he took out a needle from another sterilized bag, keeping it on top for the moment.

"Please... don't."

He paused, glancing to her face as his fingers unscrewed a ball from a metal bar. "Don't what?" he asked, while setting the ball aside. "This will only hurt for a second." Yoshiki said, when all she did was start to tremble again, "Now, stay still."

With the needle in hand again he aligned it with the bottom marker before pushing the needle through the skin in the clamp, piercing through the top marker in one sure fluid movement. Ayumi squealed above him and he waited for her body to become still again before letting go of the needle to grab the metal bar, inserting it into the hollow bottom. After setting the clamp down he took the top of the needle in his fingers and drew it up slowly until the needle was out of her, leaving the metal bar behind and he detached the bar from the needle, setting it back in the bag it had come from. He picked up the ball and screwed it back on to the top of the bar, looking at the smooth iolite stone nestled at each end of the bar with his handiwork now finished.

He took another cotton ball, applying disinfectant again before cleaning up the drops of blood around the piercing. She whimpered when he dabbed at the last spot, near the metal bar. "Take it out," her voice came out shaking, "Please."

"Why would I risk you getting an infection? You're mine, Ayumi Shinozaki." he said, letting the snap of the gloves emphasize his words as he slipped them off with all the materials back in the bag, adding the gloves a moment later. His gaze moved up to the clock, noting the time was nine and a half. Thirty more minutes till ten, until that gang was working the station again. He grabbed a second phone from his bag, fingers flying over the numbers, pushing in multiple recipients to send the message to.

_Dive on summer swans at Ichio._

_Take the safe._

_- Kima_

He flipped the phone shut when it beeped in the affirmative that all the messages had been recieved. With it back in the bag he walked around the desk stopping to pull Ayumi up right and undo the cloth around her wrists and head, stuffing them quickly in the bag. "Close your eyes, keep them closed for a minute, then go home Ayumi." Just to make sure she didn't look he pushed her back down onto the desk, on her side away from the door before walking quickly out of the room, and out of the hall.

When he was out of the school he ran in a full on sprint to the station to meet up with the other four members and deal with these 'green wearing, dragon graffiti' gang that had stolen from Ayumi.

When he woke up the next morning the pop of a bottle still rung in his ears from last night. Chike had found the alcohol stash in the apparently Skinned Lizards hideout near the Ichio Station after the fight. Skinned indeed, it had been easier than he had suspected, but really that didn't come as much of a surprise. They had gone after a clearly distressed girl as their target - Ayumi didn't exactly hide her emotions - which didn't tell of much skill, more like wannabes or people that thought of stealing as a pass time rather than a component in survival.

He swung his legs over the side of the bed, standing up a moment later to walk over to his desk and the spoils that were spread across it. Yoshiki went through the rest of the items, adding a few to a girly purse before he even thought of getting changed.

It was only when he had his school uniform on that he walked from the apartment, backpack in hand as he made the trek to a house he had only seen once before. That he hadn't been allowed inside of. Not that anyone had ever invited him in the first place.

With a sigh he rung the door bell then stepped back, taking a moment to zip his bag open to take out the purse, checking once again that everything was inside. The knob jingled for a second and then the door was open, Ayumi standing in the frame, looking over her shoulder at someone behind her.

"Yes, mom. I'll be back early today. Okay? Bye." she waved, stepping forward and out of the house, only turning to face him after shutting the door. "Kishinuma?" Ayumi blinked at him, as if he had just appeared out of thin air and hadn't been waiting for her on her doorstep. Well, it was only the second time he had showed up here.

He extended his hand before she could get another word in. "Here, this is yours." The purse dangled from his fingers. "I heard about what happened at Ichio Station. Everything should be inside, but tell me if something's missing and I'll get it for you." It was possible the Skinned Lizards had pawned a few items before he chased them out of the Station, quite literally. By tonight a new symbol would adorn the wall in place of that disfigured 'dragon'.

Ayumi reached out, hand wrapping low around the strap. "Thank you, Kishinuma," she said, while he tried to ignore her obvious avoidance of taking the purse directly from his hand. Since when was his delinquency contagious?

"Honey-" the words stopped short and Yoshiki raised his gaze slowly past Ayumi to see her mother standing on the porch. The door was still wide open behind her, as silent as ever. "Get inside, Ayumi." Of course, it was contagious today of all days.

"He just came to deliver my purse-"

"Inside. Now." Once Ayumi was back up the porch stairs, the door shut behind her, the woman was back to glaring at him. "How did you happen to have her purse that was stolen just yesterday? We haven't even called the police about it yet."

He could feel a scowl developing across his own face. "Now you won't have to." Bitch, he held the word back, barely.

Her own eyes narrowed at him, and he instantly knew what she was going to say before the words were even out of her mouth, "If you think you can get away with stealing-"

"I didn't steal from Ayumi, and I didn't order my gang to rob her," he interrupted quickly not about to listen to her suggest that he had anything to do with it. "You got a call from Satoshi last night, didn't you?" He didn't even bother to wait for an answer, knowing what it would be. "He called because I asked him to, and he told me what happened. Naomi filled in the details and now Ayumi has her purse back, and I will personally pay for anything still missing. Is _that_ good enough for you?"

The woman's lips pursed into a frown, thankfully the door crashed open before she could say anything. "I'm going to be late to school, mother. I'll see you when it's over." Ayumi was quick to wedge herself between her mother and him. A blind still flapping in the window was enough for Yoshiki to know that she had been watching them.

"Just wait here and I'll walk you to school," even with Ayumi between them her mother glared at Yoshiki as she spoke.

"That's not necessary." Actually it is.

"What do you mean, 'not necessary?' You were robbed yesterday Ayumi." Exactly. Good to know her mother wasn't a complete and utter fool. "You came back last night and entered your room without a word to me or your father looking as if you had spent the whole day crying. I heard you in the middle of the night for goodness sake." She was still a complete and utter bitch though. He fought to keep his face neutral at the knowledge that Ayumi had been crying again, that it was his fault but he couldn't come up with another way to make sure it wouldn't happen again. She never listened to a word he said and she obviously didn't listen to her parents when it came to her safety either. "I'm not going to let you go to school by yourself."

"But I-" she fell silent when her mother gave a disapproving look. The poor girl looked lost, eyes flickering from the house, her mother, him, down the road leading to the school. For fuck's sake Ayumi, don't make _me_ suggest it. She turned back to her mother after what felt like forever, "Kishinuma can take me there, we're both going anyways. You'll be late to work if you don't leave in the next minute."

He found himself grinning at those words, just wanting to wrap his arms around Ayumi but he stayed still as her mother looked vexed at the suggestion. "That-"

"Come on, Kishinuma." Ayumi walked quickly from the front of the house and he followed her down the sidewalk. He threw a glance over his shoulder when they were a couple houses down to see her mother still standing there glaring after them and he couldn't help but smirk at the woman, which seemed to make her angrier as the door slammed when she disappeared back into the house. Yoshiki turned back around to see Ayumi frowning at him, "You shouldn't do that. My parents already don't like you as it is."

He could already feel his smile melting away from her heated gaze. "Your mother hated me the instant she set eyes on me." Unlike Satoshi. He quickly shoved the thought from his head. "The least she could do is give me a chance." The same went for her. He hoped Ayumi would give him a chance anyway.

"Yeah, well, you don't exactly make a good impression." He huffed, sticking his hands in his pant pockets as he walked. "Thanks for getting my purse back."

Yoshiki glanced over at her when her voice lowered to barely above a whisper. "Was anything missing?" he asked, he had no intention of going back on his word if there was, no matter what the object was.

"Not that I could see. I'll go through it later today. I..." her voice trailed off for a moment and she looked like she was fighting to get the words out, "I wanted to ask you something. A favor."

She was nibbling on her bottom lip now and he teared his gaze away, looking straight ahead so he wasn't as tempted to bend down and bite it. "I'll do whatever it is."

"I was wondering if I could take part in that friend's discount where you work for some uh, supplies."

"Supplies for what?" he asked, looking back at her, wanting to see it in the light.

Her cheeks were red as she lifted the bottom of her shirt slightly so the belly button piercing could be seen. The iolite glimmered in the sun, changing from it's natural purple to blue, yellow, and green in a few places. It was only for a few seconds as she quickly lowered it over the skin again but the image was already seared into his mind. "Supplies so it doesn't get infected, for..."

"For three to four months," he finished for her. "And I would advise against swimming as the bacteria in the water can get it infected as well. So also avoid taking baths."

"Any other advice?"

"Just come down to the shop and I'll make sure you get everything you need."

"Thanks," a shaky breath came from her, "My parents don't know about it." He said nothing, letting her continue if she wanted to or stop entirely. "It wasn't my choice," he turned when a sob broke between the words. Ayumi had stopped beside him, lifting her arms to rub tears from her eyes, "I tried to find a way to get rid of it but every site I went on suggested to let it heal first before doing anything as to not get a nasty infection." Her body shook and he hesitantly raised a hand to settle on her shoulder, preparing himself for when she inenvitably pushed him away.

"Speaking as a body artist, one without a professional license," her laugher at that calmed him slightly and he continued, "It looks good on you." Her shoulder stiffened beneath his hand. "What I mean is, your initial choice or not we get plenty of customers that come in with a similiar situation and they decide they like the piercing but change the content to suit themselves. You don't have to look at it as if it's a bad thing." He said and started to withdraw his hand, to get away before he got hit. Fingers suddenly pressed against the back of his hand, keeping it in place. "Ayumi?"

She was silent for what felt like a solid minute, then her gaze met his. "Did Satoshi really only call because you asked him?"

He frowned slightly. Of course that's who she was thinking about. "He would have called anyway if anything serious had happened and he knew about it." That was the truth of the matter. He didn't care for her thinking of Satoshi but his friend wasn't the sort of person that didn't care for others, even she should know that. "I asked him to because I was worried after what happened yesterday and wanted to make sure you were okay." Which you weren't, he added silently.

The fingers released the pressure on his hand. "Can we not talk about yesterday? I just want to forget it."

She was visibly shivering again and he nodded. "Sure, class-rep."

That title made her eyes widen and he smiled when she stopped shivering, overcome with realization. "I can't be late!" He burst into a fit of laughter, allowing his hand to be shrugged off her shoulder. "Stop laughing! You can't be late either! There's enough absences and tardies on your sheet as it is!"

"You've been looking at my sheet?"

"It's my responsibility! Get to class Kishinuma!"

"Shouldn't you be worried about you?" he asked, still doubled over from laughing as he looked up at her.

Her lips formed a thin line as she glared at him, looking in the direction of the school then back at him with an even more furious look. "Come on!" Her hand was around his arm, tugging him up and forward as she ran to the school as Yoshiki just kept laughing.

**Thinking of doing a sequel to this. (Not sure yet if it will just be events before the Sachiko charm or if it will include Heavenly Host)**


End file.
